Nearly three years after we started holding Fed Listens events around the country, the program has proved to be even more valuable than we could have imagined. Its original purpose was to elicit broad feedback as part of our monetary policy framework review. However, the Fed has long viewed community outreach as a vital part of our economic understanding, and these discussions have delivered such value that Fed Listens has evolved to join the other regular staples of our outreach work. These events enable us to hear directly from people on the ground, at the heart of the sectors and industries you represent, from ... (full story)